Housing Choice Voucher waiting-list opening
Housing Solutions for the Southwest, contracting with the Colorado Division of Housing, for La Plata, Archuleta and San Juan counties, is opening the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) waiting list Aug. 25.
Section 8 provides rental assistance to low-income households. Housing Solutions is an equal opportunity housing agency. Applications will not be available prior to Aug. 25. La Plata County residents should come to the Housing Solutions office on or after Aug. 25 to apply. Applications will be prioritized by date, but the time of day that people apply will not impact their placement on the waiting list. The office is at 295 Girard St. The hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday. The office is closed on Fridays.
People who need special accommodations to apply, call 259-1086. Do not send faxes.
Jeffrey Speicher receives designation
Wells Fargo Advisors has designated Jeffrey Speicher, financial adviser, senior vice president-investment officer, as a member of the firm’s Premier Advisors Program.
This distinction reflects his achievement of professional success by meeting or exceeding Wells Fargo Advisors’ standards as measured by one or more of the firm’s criteria for revenue generation, educational attainment and client-service best practices. This is the fourth year in a row he has received this distinction. Speicher has been a financial adviser with Wells Fargo Advisors for four years and has 15 years experience in the brokerage industry. He has a degree in economics and business administration from Fort Lewis College. He is a member of Rotary Club of Durango and the Fort Lewis College Alumni Association.
For more information, visit www.wellsfargoadvisors.com.
Region 9 receives additional money
The Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, Inc. received an additional $500,000 through an amendment of the Community Development Block Grant contract between the State Office of Economic Development and International Trade and La Plata County on behalf of the five counties in Southwest Colorado.
The grant is one of several sources of funding for the Business Loan Fund program that provides “gap” financing to support job creation and retention in La Plata, Archuleta, Montezuma, Dolores and San Juan counties. In addition to larger loans of $100,000 or more, the program provides micro-loans to small business and entrepreneurs that can include up to $5,000 in grants for technical assistance. To date, this grant contract has helped fund 31 loans and one feasibility study, totaling more than $1.089 million.
For more information, visit www.scan.org, call Jenny Stollar at 247-9621 or email jenny@scan.org.
Local First to host open house
Local First will host an open house for businesses interested in participating in the 2015 Be Local Coupon Book.
Local First is a member network of more than 220 locally owned, independent businesses within La Plata County committed to building and maintaining a strong local economy. Locally owned businesses interested in joining this organization or participating in the 2015 Be Local Coupon Book are invited to this open house from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 1 in the basement conference room of Durango Coffee Co., 730 Main Ave.
For more information, visit www.local-first.org or call 799-6618.
Aztec freelance writer receives awards
Aztec freelance writer Margaret Cheasebro has won three first-place and one third-place awards in the National Federation of Press Women’s Communication Contest.
The awards will be presented at the federation’s national conference in Greenville, South Carolina, in early September. She was among 12 New Mexico writers to win 25 awards in the contest. In Colorado, four journalists won a total of five awards. Her awards were for articles that appeared in Majestic Living and Four Corners Sports magazines during 2013. Cheasebro, who worked for more than 30 years as a newspaper reporter, editor or freelance writer, is a retired elementary school counselor and works part time as a freelance writer and an alternative health provider. Her ebook, Healing and Growing with Reiki: Exploring Reiki I, II and III (Reiki Master) may be viewed at www.wordsandwellness.com.
For a list of all winners, visit www.nfpw.org/pdf/2014-Contest-Winners-by-State.pdf.
Government contracts discussed for marketing
The Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center and Colorado’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center will host a free workshop on “Developing a Marketing Strategy to Win Government Contracts” from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday at the Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave.
The workshop will be facilitated by Procurement Technical Assistance Center counselor, Kathryn Lobdell. All business owners, economic-development and community-resource advocates are welcome. Lobdell will explain how to develop a marketing strategy to earn government contracts. Included will be: researching target market, presentation skills one-on-one with buyers, partners and networking and win-win strategies.
For more information, call Joan Saunders at (719) 434-3470 or email info@coloradoptac.org. To register, visit http://coptac.Ecenterdirect.com/conferencedetail.Action?Id32439.
Event to discuss healthy solutions for the home
A Modere Exclusive Event featuring international business expert and speaker, Margie Aliprandi, will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Eolus Room of the Durango Community Recreation Center, 2700 Main Ave.
She will educate attendees about how to give their homes and lives a healthy makeover The event is free, and it will feature giveaways, free samples, snacks and beverages. Participants will learn about healthy, nontoxic products for the home, health and their beauty regimen.
For more information, call Meg Bush at 759-0199.
Senior job training needs applicants
SER Jobs For Progress, a job-training program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, is in need of applicants.
The program pays a wage to seniors in need of learning new job skills to obtain employment. The program also assists in helping senior enrollees obtain a job after completion of training. Seniors age 55 and older who are unemployed and low income may qualify.
For more information and to apply, call 385-3995.
The Gallery announces new associate addition
Meghan Lynch has joined The Gallery, 29434 U.S. Highway 160, as its newest sales associate.
She has studied architecture in Boston, Massachusetts, where she received a degree in architectural engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology. She has spent the majority of her 13 years in Durango working in retail flooring, taking every opportunity to expand her knowledge in the construction field. She wants her clients to know their options in the world of flooring, teach them the product’s abilities and limitations and guide the client into an educated decision based on the expectations they want fulfilled.
For more information, call 385-9115 or visit www.thegallerydro.com.
Herald Staff
